Run a discovery sprint in an afternoon

Discovery is often treated as a phase that needs weeks, a researcher and a budget. Most of its value comes from a few habits: being precise about the problem, speaking to the people who have it, and testing ideas before they become commitments. Those habits can be learned, and practised, in an afternoon.

Inês and Elena run a compressed version of the discovery sprint their teams use at Quill and Tidewater. Working in small groups on a real brief, you will frame a problem and its riskiest assumption, write an interview guide, then interview real people: conference volunteers recruited for the session. You will sketch a rough prototype, test it with a second volunteer, and finish by deciding, with evidence, whether to build, change direction or stop.

It moves quickly, on purpose. The aim is to leave with a routine you can run with your own team next week.

What you will take away

• A two-hour discovery routine you can run with your own team
• An interview guide template, and practice using it with real participants
• A simple way to record evidence and turn it into a build, change or stop decision

Before you come

• A laptop or tablet, plus paper and a pen for sketching
• Nothing to install; templates are shared on the day
• Optional: a real product problem you are working on, which your group may choose as its brief